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The Question of the Vidátha in Vedic India

1965; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 97; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1017/s0035869x00123639

2051-2066

J. P. Sharma,

Indian History and Philosophy

There are more views and opinions about the nature and character of the vidátha than the number of scholars who have worked on the subject. That the sources are open to different interpretations is obvious from the divergent views held about the origin, development and functions of the sabh ā́ (council) and sámiti (assembly), the chief political institutions of Vedic India. The Vedic literature provides numerous vague references to the vidátha . In the Ṛg Veda alone at least 97 verses refer to it, while the Atharva Veda mentions it in about 20 hymns. The Vājasaneyī Saṁhitā , the Brāhmaṇas and the Ṯaittirīya Āraṇyaka also contain references to the vidátha . Most of the evidence, however, is provided by the Ṛg Vedic hymns, and references to this institution are fewer in the later compositions of Vedic literature.